We are back in our house at last! Words cannot describe what a great feeling it is. Life has been a roller coaster since the fire with many ups and downs and sometimes just holding on for the ride, but it is so nice to be moving on.

Yesterday American Mobile Home came to take the mobile home away. We had emptied it and cleaned it and it was time for it to go. It was a bittersweet feeling to watch it pull away. It’s a great step ahead in our journey, but no matter how hot or cramped or small the mobile home was, we still called it home for 6 months. We cheered when it came so we could all be together as a family again. It was a place of rest after a long day of working on the house, a place to eat together, even a place where Eli could squeeze in sleep-overs with his cousins. It gave us a sense of normalcy, especially after walking into the house and seeing all the work that had to be done and the smoke smell that permeated everything. It allowed us to stay and take care of our animals and be close to everything that was important to us. Home is really where your family is and the mobile home was home.

Now it’s time to enjoy our house again! There is lots to be done still. There is sorting and cleaning and going through everything in the containers but it is a new chapter in our journey and someday we will look back at the time in our life when everything changed.

We are so grateful for all the family and friends who have walked the journey with us and helped us every step of the way. We are so lucky to have such a great family and friends and a great caring community. It’s been a lot of hard work but it’s nice be back in our forever home again.

When the chill comes into the air in the fall, there is nothing better than a warm cup of homemade apple cider to warm you up.Making apple cider in the fall has always been a tradition with our family and friends for many years.

We use local drops and old fashioned cider presses and turn it into a great fall activity.

. Stephen Hughes heads the operation and an assortment of family and friends show up to turn totes of apples into gallons of cider at the MacGregor Homestead. This week we even tried adding a little fresh cranberries to the mix for a different flavor. There is usually the same assortment of helpers but every week might find a few new helpers added to the mix. It’s a great time to chat as you work and catch up with everyone’s week.

The kids fade in and out helping and alternately playing and filling the jugs is usually a favorite job for them.

The gallons of cider are then taken home by everyone and shared with family and friends. They can even be frozen for a treat later in the season and a few ambitious helpers have turned it into wine or hard cider. Cran-applesauce was also a new treat this year.

It’s a great tradition over the years and we look forward to it every year. Although by the time the last apples have faded off the trees and the season is over, we are ready to call it quits too. As the kids grow up, they come back from college with new friends to help out for a weekend or two, and give them the warmth of home again. It really is a great tradition we hope to perpetuate for years to come. I can’t imagine fall without it!

BOLD Moves Real Estate has quite a few BOLDIES helping out with the operation. Visit www.boldmovesrealestate.com for more local events and great ways to get into the house of your dreams.

Memorial Day Weekend was a busy time in Rochester, MA. The Memorial Day Parade kicked off from the Town Hall on Sunday, May 24th. The parade included The Rochester Memorial School Band, the Rochester Firefighters, The Rochester Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts as well as the Rochester Girl Scouts and Brownies and Daisies. The Town Selectmen as well as Representative Bill Straus read the names of the Veterans of Rochester who have ensured our country’s freedom. It is a Rochester tradition in every sense of the word.

Monday, May 25th brought the Rochester Memorial Day Boat Race. It was a beautiful day for the race and 66 boats headed out from Gramma Hartley’s Reservoir, Snipatuit Rd. Rochester at one minute intervals starting at 8:30 AM. They finished 2-4 hours later at the Mattapoisett Herring Run on Rt. 6, Mattapoisett.

The Awards ceremony was held at the Rochester Memorial School at 7:30 PM and was dedicated to the memory Charles “Chuck” Gonneville who was a custodian at the school and was an integral part of the Boat Race. He was involved with every aspect of the planning and implementation of the race and he was sorely missed. A flag was donated by the Shay family and hung in the gymnasium in memory of Chuck. His family was present for the dedication.

The overall results for the race were: First Place; Billy Watling and Dave Lawrence, 2nd Place, Ian MacGregor and Jake Goyette and Third Place: Andy Weigel and Jay Lawrence. There were awards for Parent-Child, Co-Ed, Woman’s, Junior Girls and Boys, and Old Man of the River.

It’s always been a tradition at Rochester Memorial School in Rochester, MA. Every year the whole 5th grade heads to Sargent Camp in Hancock, New Hampshire for the week. This year was no exception, and 70 plus students headed out on two buses up to New Hampshire on Monday, May 4th.

The program is officially called Nature’s Classroom At Sargent Center. There are over 700 acres of forest, pond, meadow, river, and bog communities which become a living classroom for the students. The students spend most of their day outdoors. Students stay in winterized cabins with modern bathrooms in rooms of 4 or 6.

Rochester Memorial 5th grade teachers accompany their students for the week as well as other staff and visits include Mr. Medeiros, principal of RMS.

As a parent of a 5th grader, you watch the buses pull away already missing your child but knowing that they are going to have the experience of a lifetime and literally a blast with all their friends, while learning about ecology and geology that they just won’t find in books.

We are very lucky to have such a dedicated staff at RMS that keeps this tradition alive. This is my third and last experience with Sargent Camp. My two older children talk about it fondly and what a great time they had.

They will all be back on Friday and we’ll be happy to welcome them home with memories and stories to tell.

Old Rochester Little League Opening Day was held Saturday, May 2nd at Old Hammondtown Fields in Mattapoisett, MA. The Major Leagues, Minors, Triple A, Double A, and Single A all gathered at Knights of Columbus in Mattapoisett and marched to the ball field at Old Hammondtown. The teams and coaches were announced and the national anthem was sung by Sarah Achorn.

The first ball was thrown out and the words “Play Ball” were spoken and the official season of Old Rochester Little League began.

Games were played on Lambo field later in the day as well as Rochester and Marion fields.

Over 300 kids are involved in Little League this year. The tri-towns of Marion, Mattapoisett and Ro

chester have combined to form the Old Rochester Little League for 3 years now. The teams are mixed with children from each town on every team. It’s a great way to get the kids familiar with kids they will be in school with come junior high. Openin

g Day alternates between the three towns every year. Next year the parade will head back to Rochester.

It was a beautiful day to be outside and enjoying the sport of baseball!

Rochester Boy Scout Troop 31 welcomed two new Boy Scouts on Friday night.Pack 30 Cub Scouts held their annual Crossover Ceremony and Blue and Gold Banquet at the First Congregational Church in Rochester. The boys were treated to a special Crossover Ceremony by the New Bedford Troop 24. This is an important ceremony for the Webelos Cub Scouts. Eli MacGregor and Tyler Souza received their Arrow of Light, which is the highest Cub Scout Rank and the only Award they are allowed to wear on their new Boy Scout uniforms.

The Crossover Ceremony is only performed by a small number of Boy Scout Troops and New Bedford Troop 24 provided an impressive Ceremony in full regalia which involved the boys lighting candles to represent the meaning of the Scout Law and crossing over the Bridge to Boy Scouts.

Rochester Troop 31 Boy Scouts were on hand to receive the Boys into their troop and present them with their new Boy Scout Handkerchief.

Eli and Tyler worked very hard to earn their badges and receive their Arrow of Light. Eli started as a Tiger Cub in 1st grade and Tyler joined as a Webelos Scout.

The Cub Scout Master, Roger Poulin, presented the boys with their new Boy Scout Handbook. The Crossover was held in conjunction with the Blue and Gold Banquet which is held every year as a birthday party for Cub Scouts. Pizza and salad as well as special cupcakes made the night a complete success.

As the Den Leader for the boys since they were Tiger Cubs, this was a bittersweet moment. I am very proud of the accomplishments they have made but will miss the den meetings and the family atmosphere of the Cub Scouts. They are now on their way to Eagle, the highest achievement in Boy Scouts.

The Boy Scout 35th Annual Klondike Derby was held on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at Camp Cachalot. Despite the frigid temperatures, there was a great turnout of boys from the local Troops in the area.

What exactly is a Klondike Derby? Well, it is a one-day competitive event which uses Sledges and Klondike Gold Rush themes to complete a multiple “Town” course and sledge race, pitting each team’s skills and team work against the clock. The purposes of the derby are: First, a grand outdoor winter adventure full of fun and surprises, and second, a way for scout’s to test their basic camping and survival skills. Teams can consist of 4 to 8 Scouts. Sledges are homemade and must weigh a minimum of 50 pounds. The Team pushes their Sledge to each “Town” to complete an activity. They are judged on time and how well they accomplish the task.

We attended the Derby as observers this year. My Webelos 2 are crossing over into Boy Scouts on February,27th and were getting a feel for the event which they will participate in next year. The day was extremely cold and windy, but that didn’t seem to affect the enthusiasm of the Scouts as they traveled from Town to Town.

Some of the Town activities included: Chasm crossing, where the Scouts had to Push their Sledge over a Chasm(wooden bridge) using pieces of wood to get the Sledge across. If they dropped one, it was gone and they had to continue without it

First Aid, where they had to show their First Aid Skills.

Markmanship at the Shooting Range.

Teamwork: Where they had to walk on pieces of wood strapped to their feet as a Team.

Of Course, Fire Building: One Town involved cutting the wood to make your fire and the next Town involved building your fire without matches and burning a string which in turns releases a bag of water to douse the fire. Some teams were successful but other teams did not build the fire large enough to burn the string.

Shelter Building was also tested.

The Scouts also had to cook their own lunch. The Grubmaster is the Scout in charge of organizing and cooking the food.

The Day ends aroung 4:00 PM with a race across the field by two members of the Team pushing and pulling the Sledge.

It was a Great Day Watching The Scouts go through their paces and cheering our own Rochester, MA Troop 31 on.

Snow Day! Just those words bring back wonderful memories of glorious days off from school filled with sledding, playing in the snow, making snowmen and then heading into the house for a cup of cocoa.

New England was granted a snow day today and tomorrow thanks to the Blizzard of 2015. As an adult snow days mean kids home, lots of shoveling, as well as wet snowpants, scarfs and mittens strewn all over the house. It can also mean time well spent making snow angels, playing boardgames, and watching Disney movies. All too often, we don’t get many of these days to spend time with our children. The governor of Massachusetts issued a driving ban for Massachusetts. This was a good excuse to stay home and simply enjoy the day.

This could also mean reading a good book or catching up on chores such as laundry or maybe writing gratitude cards for the BOLD Day Challenge.

No matter how you spent your day, a snow day is always a special gift of time to be carefully unwrapped and savored. They don’t happen often enough. When I was a kid, it was listening to AM radio waiting and hoping that your school was on the list and the great feeling when you heard it announced. Now it’s the early morning phone call and the wonderful feeling when you tell your child,” No School Today!”

Memorial Day is always a busy time in Rochester, MA and always a busy time for the MacGregor family. Most of the family is always involved in the Rochester Boat Race and did really well this year. We also usually participate in the Memorial Day Parade in the Center of Rochester which is what Memorial Day is all about. My son, Eli marched in the parade with his fellow Pack 30 Cub Scouts. The Boy Scouts were also marching as well as the Rochester Fire Department, Girl Scouts, Rochester Memorial School Band, Board of Selectmen and Color Guard. The weather cooperated and it turned out to be a great day.

May is also the beginning of the garden planting and the hay season. We have yet to start hay but are hoping the weather cooperates to start this weekend. We have planted potatoes and corn so far, but we should be planting everything else in the days ahead.

It gets a little crazy at this time of year but everyone in the family works together to get everything done. My daughter is still busy at work weeding her strawberries for this year’s crop. They are looking good and we should be having fresh strawberries in a week or so. It’s a lot of work, but a worthwhile endeavor.

I am also still working in real estate. Call me with any of your real estate needs.

Baseball season is here again! Once again my son, Eli, is playing Minor League Baseball with the Old Rochester Little League. This is the second year that Rochester has joined in the tri-town league. Last year, Eli had a great season with some great coaches. Games have already started and the Little League Opening Day Parade was held last Saturday in Marion. Eli has already learned a great deal already and will hopefully have another great season.

It’s also that time on the family farm to start our planting and hay season. It’s always with a little trepidation, we start the season. I love the spring and the summer season and we always have a lot of fun while we work, but it is also the start of all the planting and preparation for the year. Once we get going, all is well. We have already started cutting potatoes to plant. This year we are rolling them in sulfur to see if it cuts down on scabbing of the potatoes. We have heard good things with this and thought we would try it this year. My daughter’s strawberries are starting to grow and the first strawberry of the season is soon to come. The fields are growing with cutting not too far in the future. It’s a great time to see everything come to life on the family farm with promises of things to come.

I love working on the farm, but I am also available for your real estate needs. Call me at 508-742-8314 or carolyn@boldrealtors.com